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The
Declaration of Arbroath(click on image to
view enlargement)

In
April 1320 “the community of the realm of Scotland”
dispatched a letter to Pope John XXII, setting out the case
for the Scottish people. The famous Declaration of Arbroath,
drafted very probably by Abbot Bernard of Arbroath, Chancellor
of Scotland, and affixed with the seals of some 40 nobles,
barons and freemen, remains one of the most inspirational
missives ever written. It articulated the ancient right of
the Scots to self-determination - a ringing endorsement of
their fight for freedom and right to independence. But for
all its passionate rhetoric, the Declaration brought forth
no immediate positive response from the Pope, just some weasel
words informing them that he had written to Edward of England,
urging him to make an enduring peace with “the aforesaid
Robert (the Bruce), who says that he is King of Scotland”.

(originally
written in Latin, you'll find the English translation as follows:)

To our most Holy Father in Christ, and
our Lord, John, by Divine Providence chief Bishop of the most
holy Roman and Universal Church, your humble and devoted sons:
Duncan Earl of Fife, Thomas Randolph Earl of Moray, Lord of
Man and Annandale, Patrick of Dunbar, Earl of March, Malise
Earl of Strathearn, Malcolm Earl of Lennox, Wilham Earl of
Ross, Magnus Earl of Caithness and Orkney, William Earl of
Sutherland, Walter, Steward of Scotland, Wilham of Soulis,
Butler of Scotland, James Lord of Douglas, Roger of Mowbray,
David Lord of Brechin, David of Graham, Ingelram of Umfravil,
John of Menteith, Guardian of the earldom of Menteith, Alexander
Fraser, Gilbert of Hay, Constable of Scotland, Robert of Keith,
Marischal of Scotland, Henry of St Clair, John of Graham,
David of Lindsay, William Oliphant, Patrick of Graham, John
of Fenton, William of Abernethy, David of Wemyss, William
Muschet, Fergus of Ardrossan, Eustace of Maxwell, William
of Ramsay, William Mowat, Allan of Moray, Donald Campbell,
John Cambrun, Reginald le Cheyne, Alexander of Seton, Andrew
of Leslie, Alexander of Straton, and the rest of the barons
and freeholders, and whole community, of the kingdom of Scotland,
send all manner of filial reverence, with devout kisses of
your blessed and happy feet.

Most holy Father and Lord, we know and gather from ancient
acts and records, that in every famous nation this of Scotland
hath been celebrated with many praises: This nation having
come from Scythia the greater, through the Tuscan Sea and
the Hercules Pillars, and having for many ages taken its residence
in Spain in the midst of a most fierce people, could never
be brought in subjection by any people, how barbarous soever:
And having removed from these parts, above 1,200 years after
the coming of the Israelites out of Egypt, did by many victories
and much toil obtain these parts in the West which they still
possess, having expelled the Britons and entirely rooted out
the Picts, notwithstanding of the frequent assaults and invasions
they met with from the Norwegians, Danes, and English; And
these parts and possessions they have always retained free
from all manner of servitude and subjection, as ancient histories
do witness.

This kingdom hath been governed by an uninterrupted succession
of 113 kings, all of our own native and royal stock, without
the intervening of any stranger.
The true nobility and merits of those princes and people are
very remarkable, from this one consideration (though there
were no other evidence for it) that the King of Kings, the
Lord Jesus Christ, after His Passion and Resurrection, honoured
them as it were the first (though living in the outmost ends
of the earth) with a call to His most Holy Faith: Neither
would our Saviour have them confirmed in the Christian Faith
by any other instrument than His own first Apostle in calling
(though in rank the second or third) St Andrew, the most worthy
brother of the Blessed Peter, whom He would always have to
be over us, as our patron or protector.

Upon the weighty consideration of these things our most Holy
Fathers, your predecessors, did with many great and singular
favours and privileges fence and secure this kingdom and people,
as being the peculiar charge and care of the brother of St
Peter; so that our nation hath hitherto lived in freedom and
quietness, under their protection, till the magnificent King
Edward, father to the present King of England, did under the
colour of friendship and alliance, or confederacy, with innumerable
oppressions infest us, who had in mind no fraud or deceit,
at a time when we were without a king or head, and when the
people were unacquainted with wars and invasions. It is impossible
for any whose own experience hath not informed him to describe,
or fully to understand, the injuries, blood and violence,
the depredations and fire, the imprisonments of prelates,
the burning, slaughter and robbery committed upon holy persons
and religious houses, and a vast multitude of other barbarities,
which that king executed on this people, without sparing of
any sex or age, religion or order of men whatsoever.

But at length it pleased God, who only can heal after wounds,
to restore us to liberty, from these innumerable calamities,
by our most serene prince, king, and lord Robert, who, for
the delivering of his people and his own rightful inheritance
from the enemy's hand, did, like another Joshua or Maccabeus,
most cheerfully undergo all manner of toil, fatigue, hardship,
and hazard. The Divine Providence, the right of succession
by the laws and customs of the kingdom (which we will defend
till death) and the due and lawful consent and assent of all
the people, made him our king and prince. To him we are obliged
and resolved to adhere in all things, both upon the account
of his right and his own merit, as being the person who hath
restored the people's safety in defence of their liberties.
But after all, if this prince shall leave these principles
he hath so nobly pursued, and consent that we or our kingdom
be subjected to the king or people of England, we will immediately
endeavour to expel him, as our enemy and as the subverter
both of his own and our rights, and we will make another king,
who will defend our liberties:
For so long as there shall but one hundred of us remain alive
we will never give consent to subject ourselves to the dominion
of the English. For it is not glory, it is not riches, neither
is it honours, but it is liberty alone that we fight and contend
for, which no honest man will lose but with his life.

For these reasons, most Reverend Father and Lord, We do with
earnest prayers from our bended knees and hearts, beg and
entreat Your Holiness that you may be pleased, with a sincere
and cordial piety, to consider that with Him whose Vicar on
earth you are there is no respect nor distinction of Jew nor
Greek, Scots nor English, and that with a tender and fatherly
eye you may look upon the calamities and straits brought upon
us and the Church of God by the English; and that you may
admonish and exhort the king of England (who may well rest
satisfied with his own possessions, since that kingdom of
old used to be sufficient for seven or more kings) to suffer
us to live at peace in that narrow spot of Scotland beyond
which we have no habitation, since we desire nothing but our
own, and we on our part, as far as we are able with respect
to our own condition, shall effectually agree to him in every
thing that may procure our quiet.

It is your concernment, Most Holy Father, to interpose in
this, when you see how far the violence and barbarity of the
pagans is let loose to rage against Christendom for punishing
of the sins of the Christians, and how much they daily encroach
upon the Christian territories. And it is your interest to
notice that there be no ground given for reflecting on your
memory, if you should suffer any part of the Church to come
under a scandal or eclipse (which we pray God may prevent)
during your times. Let it therefore please Your Holiness to
exhort the Christian princes not to make the wars betwixt
them and their neighbours a pretext for not going to the relief
of the Holy Land, since that is not the true cause of the
impediment: The truer ground of it is, that they have a much
nearer prospect of advantage, and far less opposition, in
the subduing of their weaker neighbours. And God (who is ignorant
of nothing) knows with how much cheerfulness both our king
and we would go thither, if the king of England would leave
us in peace, and we do hereby testify and declare it to the
Vicar of Christ and to all Christendom.

But if Your Holiness shall be too credulous of the English
misrepresentations, and not give firm credit to what we have
said, nor desist to favour the English to our destruction,
we must believe that the Most High will lay to your charge
all the blood, loss of souls, and other calamities that shall
follow on either hand, betwixt us and them. Your Holiness
in granting our just desires will oblige us in every case
where our duty shall require it, to endeavour your satisfaction,
as becomes the obedient sons of the Vicar of Christ.

We commit the defence of our cause to Him who is the Sovereign
King and Judge, we cast the burden of our cares upon Him,
and hope for such an issue as may give strength and courage
to us and bring our enemies to nothing. The Most High God
long preserve your Serenity and Holiness to His Holy Church.

Given at the Monastery of Arbroath in Scotland, the sixth
day of April in the year of Grace 1320, and of our said king's
reign the 15th year